


Batgirl: The Brave And The Beautiful

by Smokeycut



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Legacies, discussion of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 23:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16105802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: When Babs finds herself unable to continue as Batgirl, she asks an old friend to wear the cowl in her place. Does Alysia have what it takes?





	Batgirl: The Brave And The Beautiful

Alysia sat down in the chair beside Babs’ hospital bed, concern etched across her face. The two of them had met after Barbara had already undergone the surgery that had allowed her to walk again, and so seeing her there, knowing that Barbara was back in that position… Of course she was worried. What friend wouldn’t be?

“How are you handling all this?” Alysia asked. She clasped her hands around one of Barbara’s and squeezed it gently. 

“I’m not happy, but I don’t think that’s much of a surprise to anyone,” Barbara said in a voice far lighter and more casual than Alysia had expected. She looked like she wasn’t even concerned about it. Like it wasn’t even a big deal. Almost like she was detached from it all.

“Babs… Didn’t you just tell me that you weren’t going to walk again? Why are you so… So calm?”

Barbara looked at Alysia, and it was then that she noticed the redness around Barbara’s eyes, beneath the frames of her glasses. She had already cried about it. She had probably already had the exact same conversation with her father that Alysia was trying to initiate then. She placed her free hand on top of Alysia’s, her finger brushing over Alysia’s wedding ring.

“I’ve been here before. A part of me was always prepared that I’d end up here again. If I could handle it last time, I can handle it this time. And this time isn’t nearly as traumatic as the last. It’s just… Life, I suppose. Some things are beyond our control, and this is just one of those things.”

She smiled at Alysia. It was a pained smile, sure, but it was still a smile. Babs was warm and bright and she seemed so sure that she would get past it, sure enough that Alysia believed it too. Babs was a survivor. That much had been clear from the start of their friendship. The night that Barbara first told Alysia about what had happened to her, years ago. How she first ended up losing the ability to walk, and how she regained it. The night that Alysia had come out, and had been told that she was like family to Babs. The night that Babs almost told her she was Batgirl, but couldn’t muster up the courage. But that was two years ago. Two years was more than long enough for Babs to gather up the courage she had been missing back then. And alone with her in the hospital room, Babs decided that the time had come for her to be as honest and open as Alysia had been with her.

“Alysia… I need to tell you something, okay?” There was unease in her voice. A fear deep in the pit in her stomach that Alysia wouldn’t believe her, or even worse, that she’d be angry at her. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone reacted poorly to a hero coming out… Right. Coming out. Alysia wouldn’t be anything less than supportive and accepting, would she? Of course not.

“Hm?”

“That night, back when we were roommates. I told you that there was something important you needed to know, and I told you about my paralysis. But… That wasn’t what I needed to tell you.”

“Babs?” Alysia looked confused, scared. She held Babs’ hand tighter.

“I’m Batgirl.”

Alysia’s eyes went wide with surprise, and Babs watched in silence as the wheels turned in Alysia’s head. All the times that Babs ran off without warning, tossing out a flimsy excuse as she left. The time that she left a couple of handcuffed gangsters in their apartment. The bright red hair that very, very few women in Gotham happened to possess. It all made so much sense. So much sense, in fact, that she figured she must have been an idiot for not figuring it out on her own.

“Oh God… You’re Batgirl. You’re Batgirl?!” Alysia clamped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from shouting it any louder. Babs just laughed, relieved to have the weight lifted off of her chest.

“I can explain everything,” Barbara promised. After the initial shock, Alysia slumped her shoulders and smiled at Barbara, tears welling up in her eyes. “But there’s something else I need to tell y-”

Before she could say what that something was, Alysia had flung herself at Babs and wrapped her arms around the redhead, trapping her in a hug, and began crying into her shoulder. Barbara found herself doing the same. She hadn’t needed to keep it a secret at all, in the end. 

“I can’t be Batgirl anymore,” she said, once they had both gotten enough composure back to resume their conversation, though her voice was still muffled by speaking into the fur trim of Alysia’s jacket.

“Wh-Who do you think you’d want to pick up where you left off?” Alysia asked, sniffling into Babs’ hospital gown. She was fairly sure that the bats tended to pass on their identities, at least.

“I was thinking, someday, I’d like to give it to Cassie. But she’s focusing on high school right now, so I’m going to wait until she graduates before I talk to her about it,” Babs admitted. She knew Cass would be committed enough to the role, the girl practically idolized Babs. Being Batgirl would be like a dream come true to her. But she needed to experience a normal life, at least for a few years.

“So you’re hanging up the costume until then?” 

“Only if my other backup doesn’t want it. She’d need some training, but I’m sure she can rise to the challenge if she puts her mind to it,” Babs said, hiding a smile. “Of course, I’d have to ask that she not go around whacking people with a baseball bat while wearing bunny pajamas.”

“Bunny pa… No. No, you can’t be serious, Gordon.” Alysia blanched as Babs’ words sank in. 

“Serious as a funeral. What do you say? I could get the big guy himself to train you if I asked nicely…”

“I’m an idiot for saying this, but… Alright. But I’m not wearing the clip-on cape,” Alysia joked as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “Oh God, Jo is gonna kill me when I tell her about this.”

***************************************************************

Alysia sat on the edge of the rooftop and wiped a bit of dirt off of her boot. There wasn’t any point in the action, it was just going to get dirty again, far dirtier in fact, but it helped to calm her nerves a touch, which was exactly what she needed to be doing. She took a deep breath to quiet her racing heart and mind. Even under the cover of night, she still couldn’t believe what she was wearing.

The boots were black with thick green laces, and they blended into her pants to the point where you’d be forgiven for thinking they were a single piece of clothing. But it wasn’t likely that people would be paying attention to her pants or footwear, not when there was a giant green bat on her armored chest. Her utility belt was based directly on Batman’s, although it matched the color of the symbol she wore, and had a smaller bat as the buckle. Her cape and cowl weren’t too remarkably different from Barbara’s norm, aside from the green lenses that hid her eyes, or the shimmering emerald underside to the cape. As far as she knew, she was the first bat to wear green. That was normally a Robin thing, wasn’t it? 

“How are you feeling, Batgirl?” Barbara’s voice asked over the cowl’s comms. It felt so weird, having her friend in her ear like that. Almost as weird as being called Batgirl. “Ready for your first night out on the town?”

“I feel like I’m about to hurl,” Alysia admitted with a small laugh.

“You’ll do just fine, don’t worry,” Babs said. She wasn’t dismissive, not at all. She sounded so gentle and caring when she said it, and Alysia actually did feel a bit better with Babs’ confidence in her. “We’ve been over how to use the grapnel enough times in training, so I don’t think you need a refresher on that. If you’re ready, just say the word and I’ll give you directions to your first bust.”

“Start me on something easy, will you?” Alysia begged. She stood up on the ledge and closed her eyes, then bounced on her heels to psyche herself up. 

“Firefly and Poison Ivy are duking it out in Robinson Park. That easy enough for you?” 

“Oh, that better be a joke, Gordon,” Alysia said, trying to cover up the part of her that thought Barbara might actually be serious about it.

“Sorry. Just trying to lighten your spirits,” Babs said. “I’ve actually got something specific in mind for you, if you don’t mind wrapping up a case I was working on before…”

“What is it? And please tell me it doesn’t involve any super criminals,” Alysia pleaded as she pulled the grapnel from her belt.

“No, nothing that extreme. Dirty cop, actually. I was going to drop some evidence off on my dad’s doorstep, but I’m not exactly able to sneak into this creep’s apartment in order to gather said evidence in my current state,” Barbara explained. “You just have to pop in, grab some files, and then pop out.”

“Okay. Okay, yeah, I can do that. I hope.” Alysia clenched her jaw and gripped the grapnel tightly in her hand as she aimed it at a roof across the street. “Where’s the address?”

Oracle smiled from her position in the bell tower as she gave Batgirl the location. The computer’s light shone on her glasses, and she tented her fingers as her successor swung off into the night. Alysia had been her first choice to take up her mantle, ever since they first became friends, and a part of her was excited to see Alysia wear the cowl, even though it wasn’t under the best of circumstances. Still, she was proud, and relieved, to know that Gotham would have a Batgirl, even if it wasn’t Barbara herself. 

"Jo is gonna kill me," Alysia muttered as she took off into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently unsure if I'll continue with this concept, but I'd like to get around to making it a full series someday. Until then, I figure I'll just share the start of this AU. 
> 
> Don't forget to kudos and comment! If you want more of this, please let me know!


End file.
